Republicans lose Congress in midterms, Vance blames the Iran war and Trump disputes Alaska

Vance points to the war

Republicans lost control of the House and the Senate in the midterm elections, and Vice President JD Vance quickly moved to reshape the party's message. Shortly after the defeat he published a long post on social media, which CNN read as the start of his campaign for the 2028 presidential race. In it he named the war with Iran as the reason for the loss.

“The reason we lost is the war.”

Vance then set out four priorities for winning back disappointed voters: stopping the war, focusing on the cost of living and inflation, putting America first, and changing the relationship with Israel. He also suggested narrowing immigration enforcement to focus on companies that hire illegal workers. Trump told reporters that Vance was 'probably right' about the war's short-term effect on petrol prices.

Rural voters and the fuel shock

The losses were not confined to cities. Texas, a Republican bastion for almost four decades, elected a Democratic senator and a Democratic governor, and in many farm counties where Trump took about 70% of the vote in 2024, economic hardship weighed more than party loyalty. The war with Iran and disruption to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz pushed energy prices up, with diesel reaching $6.32 to $6.35 a gallon, an increase of roughly 70% within a year. Official economic data cited in the reporting show farmers paid $2.4 billion more for the fuel needed in the farming season, while nitrogen fertilizer prices rose 40-50%. Broad tariffs imposed by Washington prompted retaliation from trading partners, especially China, which restricted access for American farm goods, and export losses exceeded $15 billion as wholesale prices fell.

Vote count and the Alaska Senate race

The New York Times projected Democrats' national House vote margin at about 13 points early on Wednesday, a figure that would exceed even the Republican margins of 1994 and 2010. Because of redistricting, that lead may not translate into as many seats as in those years. Trump also urged voters to act as if he were on the ballot, a request he made 47 times this autumn, according to the same paper.

On Thursday, 5 November, Trump wrote on Truth Social that votes for a namesake, Dan Sullivan, should be credited to the incumbent Republican senator, saying the race would then end with Sullivan winning easily. With more than 75% of the vote counted, Democrat Mary Peltola led Sullivan by less than one point. The New York Times reported that Peltola's campaign had searched 2025 voter rolls for a person with the senator's name, and that a retired professor in a fishing village entered the race after talks with a Democratic consultant, with the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee involved. Peltola's campaign and the committee denied any involvement. Under Alaska's ranked-choice system, if no candidate wins a majority in the first round, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and voters' ballots move to their next choice, a transfer NBC News said could happen.

Reactions in Romania

Romanian commentators tied the American result to Europe and Romania. Dan Tăpălagă, speaking on G4Media's 'Analiza momentului', said Romania's policy would not change, because Trump would keep making the key decisions, including whether US troops stay in eastern Europe and Romania's offer to pay for them. He also accused the Trump family of a serious conflict of interest, citing Jared Kushner's firm, which he said had attracted billions from the Middle East, and Trump family property projects in Romania, Serbia and Albania.

“It is a blatant conflict of interest.”

Cristian Pantazi, who co-hosted the programme, described the result in these terms:

“A painful defeat, even an unexpected one for the Republican Party, two years after President Donald Trump began his second term.”

Pantazi argued that MAGA had become synonymous with losers and that several European extremist leaders had started distancing themselves from it. Former prime minister Victor Ponta mocked Realitatea TV presenter Anca Alexandrescu on Facebook, calling her the 'Black Widow' and claiming she had backed Trump as well as Romanian politicians who later lost, including Adrian Năstase, Viorica Dăncilă and Călin Georgescu. Ponta predicted that George Simion's chances would grow, since Alexandrescu had also supported the AUR leader and he had not lost ground.